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Re: Thinking of applying for a Crap One credit card!
Thanks, mate! I'm sure this would never have been possible without the Niddy rehabilitation system and going through the Vanquis stage. I didn't have to go through JD Williams, and I was able to bypass Cap One and Creation by getting this Lloyds card.
I've got some more credit card news now!
After I was surprisingly approved for the Lloyds card, I had to rethink my position altogether. I'd been able to bypass the second sub-prime stage (Cap One) and go straight from Vanquis to mainstream lenders.
What next? In the ideal world, I suppose I would have three credit cards – Lloyds, Tesco and one other. A Tesco card would be useful as I do most of my shopping there, and even though the Clubcard benefits are not supposed to be great, I may as well have them as not. I know there are some people who've got nine or ten credit cards and who collect them as a hobby, but I think any more than three just gives you an administrative headache.
The Tesco Foundation card was second on my list, and I would have applied for it if Lloyds had not gone through. As it did, I had to decide whether to make another speculative appo for a Tesco card, albeit with one extra search registered on the file. I also had to decide, in the light of being approved for a mainstream card, whether to try for one of the purchase cards available to people with good credit histories, instead of the Foundation Card.
According to the Tesco site, you cannot apply for a purchase card if you've applied for any Tesco card within the last six months. However, you are only excluded from applying for a Foundation Card if you have applied for that specific card within the last six months. Therefore, it made sense to try one of the purchase cards first, because if that failed to go through the Foundation Card would still have been a possibility.
Here is the preliminary result -
(if anyone is wondering why this screen shot looks completely different from the earlier one, it because this is a Windows 7 shot, and the other one is Linux Mint)
I was sure this would be a decline after the Lloyds card went through giving me another £1,000, but it wasn't. They've given me a £600 limit, and they've also given me an APR rate which is much higher that the one quoted. That is reasonable given the risk profile I must have – self-employed and living as a tenant.
This is a fantastic result – it means I've got to the target I was attempting to reach in one go. I've now got three credit cards – Lloyds, Tesco and one other. Maybe Vanquis isn't the perfect third card, but it is perfectly good enough given that I never pay any interest.
I certainly won't be applying for anything else for a very long time. The record of these searches from a hectic September and October will be long gone before I bother another lender again, if I ever do. I suppose I could always monitor the Santander site just to see if they pre-approve me for their purchase card, but it is probably not likely. It is interesting that Lloyds, with whom I've never had an account, were prepared to give me a card with a low APR and a high limit, whereas Santander, who I've had a current account with since they took over A&L, have apparently not pre-approved me for anything.
Anyway, the moral of the story is that it is possible to get credit, even from a mainstream lender, as a self-employed person with virtually no accounts, and as a tenant.
SH
Thanks, mate! I'm sure this would never have been possible without the Niddy rehabilitation system and going through the Vanquis stage. I didn't have to go through JD Williams, and I was able to bypass Cap One and Creation by getting this Lloyds card.
I've got some more credit card news now!
After I was surprisingly approved for the Lloyds card, I had to rethink my position altogether. I'd been able to bypass the second sub-prime stage (Cap One) and go straight from Vanquis to mainstream lenders.
What next? In the ideal world, I suppose I would have three credit cards – Lloyds, Tesco and one other. A Tesco card would be useful as I do most of my shopping there, and even though the Clubcard benefits are not supposed to be great, I may as well have them as not. I know there are some people who've got nine or ten credit cards and who collect them as a hobby, but I think any more than three just gives you an administrative headache.
The Tesco Foundation card was second on my list, and I would have applied for it if Lloyds had not gone through. As it did, I had to decide whether to make another speculative appo for a Tesco card, albeit with one extra search registered on the file. I also had to decide, in the light of being approved for a mainstream card, whether to try for one of the purchase cards available to people with good credit histories, instead of the Foundation Card.
According to the Tesco site, you cannot apply for a purchase card if you've applied for any Tesco card within the last six months. However, you are only excluded from applying for a Foundation Card if you have applied for that specific card within the last six months. Therefore, it made sense to try one of the purchase cards first, because if that failed to go through the Foundation Card would still have been a possibility.
Here is the preliminary result -
(if anyone is wondering why this screen shot looks completely different from the earlier one, it because this is a Windows 7 shot, and the other one is Linux Mint)
I was sure this would be a decline after the Lloyds card went through giving me another £1,000, but it wasn't. They've given me a £600 limit, and they've also given me an APR rate which is much higher that the one quoted. That is reasonable given the risk profile I must have – self-employed and living as a tenant.
This is a fantastic result – it means I've got to the target I was attempting to reach in one go. I've now got three credit cards – Lloyds, Tesco and one other. Maybe Vanquis isn't the perfect third card, but it is perfectly good enough given that I never pay any interest.
I certainly won't be applying for anything else for a very long time. The record of these searches from a hectic September and October will be long gone before I bother another lender again, if I ever do. I suppose I could always monitor the Santander site just to see if they pre-approve me for their purchase card, but it is probably not likely. It is interesting that Lloyds, with whom I've never had an account, were prepared to give me a card with a low APR and a high limit, whereas Santander, who I've had a current account with since they took over A&L, have apparently not pre-approved me for anything.
Anyway, the moral of the story is that it is possible to get credit, even from a mainstream lender, as a self-employed person with virtually no accounts, and as a tenant.
SH
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